I need a BSG icon...
Watching the Battlestar Galactica panel at ComicCon a couple weeks ago reminded me of the question on everyone's mind... okay ONE of the questions on everyone's mind: who's the last Cylon? The only information the audience could milk out of the panel was that the writers hadn't copped out by having it be some guy we'd never seen before. (And there was a heavy implication that it WASN'T Baltar -- either that or the writers confirmed with the others on the panel that they were going to make that joke, because the reaction from them was not "dude you just spoiled the ending!" but "oh very amusing.")
That aside, we got a blatant clue from Three at the beginning of the last episode: the last Cylon is NOT in the Fleet, or at least wasn't when she made the statement, and Three knows it. (Okay, she COULD be lying, but why? She was concealing everything else about those four.) So several popular theories just got eliminated. It's not Gaeta, it's not Dee, it's not Zarek, it's not (most important elimination) Starbuck. So what's that leave us with, if they're not in the Fleet but ARE someone we've met? Well, my brain won't shut up about it, so I finally decided to type out my theories, and there are two major options I can think of:
THE LAST CYLON WAS ON THE BASESTAR
The obvious. No need for Three to demand the last Cylon come when the last Cylon is already there. Lots of people there but not a lot of named characters; the ones who we DO care about are:
Laura Roslin
Yeah, Three joked about it, but notice after that she was saying "you should have seen the look on your face" and then "no, I'm not going to tell you who they are." NOT "no, you aren't a Cylon." She might have even been using it as a test: Does Roslin know? Mention it, watch her reaction... that's a "omg you can't be serious." Okay, backpedal, laugh it off, keep her guessing; you'll get more cooperation out of her if she remains clueless for now.
Combine that with her dreams, her prominence on the show, and her headaches in the Season Three finale (which could have masked the music to her and/or us) and she's still a very likely prospect.
Odds: 4 to 1.
Bill Adama
I'd like this option, especially since it means LEE is the first half-Cylon (and appropriately a major peacemaker).
But there's also a logical problem with it: if it were the case, why, WHY would Three let him go back to Galactica without trying to get information out of him? Or did that happen off screen? If it did, Adama's as excellent an actor as Olmos, given his reaction to finding out about Tigh; I can't picture someone who'd himself learned he was a Cylon acting like that when finding out his best friend also was. So the only way it would work is that Three somehow determined he had no (conscious) information without tipping him off that he was, in fact, one of them. She might have pulled the same stunt as with Roslin, I suppose...
And like all the other options in this category, we need an answer to the question: why didn't he hear the music? Everyone else totally abandoned their posts to go to the storage room, so "he was on duty" wasn't enough. Hell, he was right there with Tigh when Tigh was complaining about it and never seemed to hear it himself. I suppose it could have targeted the other four and not him, but what makes him so special?
Odds: 7 to 1.
Gaius Baltar
I don't like this option on a fundamental level. Baltar as a Cylon, even a Cylon-who-doesn't-know-it (and I think we can be sure at this point that he doesn't know it) loses something. He's far more interesting as a completely human frak-up.
I could say the same about Tigh to a degree, but Tigh still brings to the table the utter loyalty to the Fleet, beyond even Athena, and it's been fascinating to watch him flip the bird to his so-called nature and remain loyal at all costs because he's still Saul motherfraking Tigh, dammit. I could say the same thing about Tyrol, but Tyrol just adds more weight to the Nay side of the scales, since he's already given us whatever direction we could have gotten out of Baltar: also loved a Cylon (Boomer); wondered if he was a Cylon for a while and decided no before discovering whoops, he was after all; plenty of lovely, lovely nervous breakdowns.
But Baltar... I don't see how Baltar learning he's a Cylon, after everything he's been through, could be anything but negative for the conclusion of the show. Hopefully, the panel joke means that the writers agree with me. About the only thing in his favor is that he's still getting those wacky hallucinations that are neither chips nor utter lunacy but messages from SOMEWHERE, but Roslin has that going for her too. Oh, and if he were disoriented from the music, we'd never notice the difference between that and his usual confusion.
Odds: 30 to 1.
"Helo" Agathon
Tigh and Caprica Six have already proven that Cylon-Cylon reproduction is possible, so Hera's existence doesn't rule him out. Still, meta-wise it's not a very interesting choice on the part of the writers, and like Baltar it takes something away from the character, even if he didn't know. Takes less than it would for Baltar, but still takes it. Also, the music question again.
The only reasons I don't rate it even lower is because Nicky is still there to take on the role of the half-Cylon (and it would be darkly amusing to discover that Hera was getting all this attention for all the wrong reasons), and because Caprica Six's pregnancy (the entire "relationship", even) bugs me and would bug me less if it was there to prove that when two Cylons really love each other...
Odds: 10 to 1.
THE LAST CYLON HAS DIED AND DOWNLOADED... SOMEWHERE
Far more intriguing an option. Consider that the Hybrid heavily implied the Final Five had been to Earth (and didn't remember it), and this is the most obvious place for them to download TO. They certainly can't be downloading with the other seven: it would be too simple for Three to determine who they were that way ("what bodies are in those download tubes over there?") So while exploring Earth, they find a survivor...
This would also explain why they didn't group up with the others during Watchtower call at the end of Season Three. They could have even helped activate it (although I'm betting Starbuck also had something to do with it), and also the signal Starbuck's Viper received. So narratively it makes a lot of sense and it even allows us to do one Back-From-The-Dead for a missed character.
We'd have to assume that Three KNOWS this person "died", which definitely eliminates Cally and almost certainly eliminates Kat as well (as much as I'd like her back, I don't see how Three would have found out about her death). But anyone who died before the exodus from New Caprica, especially in a public manner, could have been noticed by either the reporter D'Anna or one of the Threes in the occupation. Which gives us:
Billy Keikeya
Oh, how I'd like this one. Billy rocked. I miss Billy. Hell, everyone misses Billy. Also, damn, if it's true Roslin has a knack for her aide selection, but I don't think she'll care in this case because she misses Billy too. Have I said Billy too many times in this paragraph?
Odds: 4 to 1.
Ellen Tigh
Good way to frak with poor Saul's head some more, but I'm not sure it would offer anything else, and like with Baltar I prefer my total frakup characters to be human.
Also, Baltar alone knows from way back in her introductory episode whether or not Ellen passed the Cylon detector test. As messed up as he is, you would think he would have brought it up at SOME point (or at least had her quietly eliminated), especially during his presidency when she could ruin everything for him (and the rest of humanity but especially him) with a single signal back to Cylon HQ. Then again, maybe he forgot, or just didn't care anymore.
Odds: 15 to 1.
the Priestess Eloisha
I wouldn't even be considering this possibility, but they dug up her actress for Roslin's dreams in episode 4.09, and suddenly she's important again. Cylons do love their spirituality, and she accomplishes the same thing Billy does in respect to Roslin: someone she trusts, right by her side from the start. She was also the first death of someone who'd gotten more than an episode of attention, and she died on Kobol, so it would be a nice full circle type of thing to find she'd beaten everyone to Earth. She'd even be rather messianic about the whole thing. The more I think about it, the more likely she is.
Odds: 3 to 1.
Duck or Jammer
Instead of Eloisha, here's our dark horses. For those who don't remember them, Duck was the guy who blew up the police graduation on New Caprica, while Jammer was the secret police member who got airlocked for collaboration after they got off the planet. They both got a prominent role in the webisode series between seasons 2 and 3; Duck didn't last much beyond that, Jammer did but I'm not sure Three would have found out he died. Highly unlikely for either of them anyway, mostly because I can't imagine the viewers or writers much CARE about them, but not impossible.
Odds: 40 to 1 for each.
I realize that in the end, logic can't apply perfectly to this. Tigh aged over at least 20 years; the other three we know either didn't, started as kids, or were "deployed" considerably later. No logical reason applies to any of those possibilities. Really, we still don't know enough about when they were created or how/when they got banished/forgotten. Or when/if they reached Earth. So maybe we can't rule out possibilities as smoothly as I think we can. But hey, it's fun! So to review, in order of my personal suspicions:
Eloisha
Roslin
Billy
Adama
Helo
Ellen
Baltar
Duck
Jammer
To be concluded in 2009...
That aside, we got a blatant clue from Three at the beginning of the last episode: the last Cylon is NOT in the Fleet, or at least wasn't when she made the statement, and Three knows it. (Okay, she COULD be lying, but why? She was concealing everything else about those four.) So several popular theories just got eliminated. It's not Gaeta, it's not Dee, it's not Zarek, it's not (most important elimination) Starbuck. So what's that leave us with, if they're not in the Fleet but ARE someone we've met? Well, my brain won't shut up about it, so I finally decided to type out my theories, and there are two major options I can think of:
THE LAST CYLON WAS ON THE BASESTAR
The obvious. No need for Three to demand the last Cylon come when the last Cylon is already there. Lots of people there but not a lot of named characters; the ones who we DO care about are:
Laura Roslin
Yeah, Three joked about it, but notice after that she was saying "you should have seen the look on your face" and then "no, I'm not going to tell you who they are." NOT "no, you aren't a Cylon." She might have even been using it as a test: Does Roslin know? Mention it, watch her reaction... that's a "omg you can't be serious." Okay, backpedal, laugh it off, keep her guessing; you'll get more cooperation out of her if she remains clueless for now.
Combine that with her dreams, her prominence on the show, and her headaches in the Season Three finale (which could have masked the music to her and/or us) and she's still a very likely prospect.
Odds: 4 to 1.
Bill Adama
I'd like this option, especially since it means LEE is the first half-Cylon (and appropriately a major peacemaker).
But there's also a logical problem with it: if it were the case, why, WHY would Three let him go back to Galactica without trying to get information out of him? Or did that happen off screen? If it did, Adama's as excellent an actor as Olmos, given his reaction to finding out about Tigh; I can't picture someone who'd himself learned he was a Cylon acting like that when finding out his best friend also was. So the only way it would work is that Three somehow determined he had no (conscious) information without tipping him off that he was, in fact, one of them. She might have pulled the same stunt as with Roslin, I suppose...
And like all the other options in this category, we need an answer to the question: why didn't he hear the music? Everyone else totally abandoned their posts to go to the storage room, so "he was on duty" wasn't enough. Hell, he was right there with Tigh when Tigh was complaining about it and never seemed to hear it himself. I suppose it could have targeted the other four and not him, but what makes him so special?
Odds: 7 to 1.
Gaius Baltar
I don't like this option on a fundamental level. Baltar as a Cylon, even a Cylon-who-doesn't-know-it (and I think we can be sure at this point that he doesn't know it) loses something. He's far more interesting as a completely human frak-up.
I could say the same about Tigh to a degree, but Tigh still brings to the table the utter loyalty to the Fleet, beyond even Athena, and it's been fascinating to watch him flip the bird to his so-called nature and remain loyal at all costs because he's still Saul motherfraking Tigh, dammit. I could say the same thing about Tyrol, but Tyrol just adds more weight to the Nay side of the scales, since he's already given us whatever direction we could have gotten out of Baltar: also loved a Cylon (Boomer); wondered if he was a Cylon for a while and decided no before discovering whoops, he was after all; plenty of lovely, lovely nervous breakdowns.
But Baltar... I don't see how Baltar learning he's a Cylon, after everything he's been through, could be anything but negative for the conclusion of the show. Hopefully, the panel joke means that the writers agree with me. About the only thing in his favor is that he's still getting those wacky hallucinations that are neither chips nor utter lunacy but messages from SOMEWHERE, but Roslin has that going for her too. Oh, and if he were disoriented from the music, we'd never notice the difference between that and his usual confusion.
Odds: 30 to 1.
"Helo" Agathon
Tigh and Caprica Six have already proven that Cylon-Cylon reproduction is possible, so Hera's existence doesn't rule him out. Still, meta-wise it's not a very interesting choice on the part of the writers, and like Baltar it takes something away from the character, even if he didn't know. Takes less than it would for Baltar, but still takes it. Also, the music question again.
The only reasons I don't rate it even lower is because Nicky is still there to take on the role of the half-Cylon (and it would be darkly amusing to discover that Hera was getting all this attention for all the wrong reasons), and because Caprica Six's pregnancy (the entire "relationship", even) bugs me and would bug me less if it was there to prove that when two Cylons really love each other...
Odds: 10 to 1.
THE LAST CYLON HAS DIED AND DOWNLOADED... SOMEWHERE
Far more intriguing an option. Consider that the Hybrid heavily implied the Final Five had been to Earth (and didn't remember it), and this is the most obvious place for them to download TO. They certainly can't be downloading with the other seven: it would be too simple for Three to determine who they were that way ("what bodies are in those download tubes over there?") So while exploring Earth, they find a survivor...
This would also explain why they didn't group up with the others during Watchtower call at the end of Season Three. They could have even helped activate it (although I'm betting Starbuck also had something to do with it), and also the signal Starbuck's Viper received. So narratively it makes a lot of sense and it even allows us to do one Back-From-The-Dead for a missed character.
We'd have to assume that Three KNOWS this person "died", which definitely eliminates Cally and almost certainly eliminates Kat as well (as much as I'd like her back, I don't see how Three would have found out about her death). But anyone who died before the exodus from New Caprica, especially in a public manner, could have been noticed by either the reporter D'Anna or one of the Threes in the occupation. Which gives us:
Billy Keikeya
Oh, how I'd like this one. Billy rocked. I miss Billy. Hell, everyone misses Billy. Also, damn, if it's true Roslin has a knack for her aide selection, but I don't think she'll care in this case because she misses Billy too. Have I said Billy too many times in this paragraph?
Odds: 4 to 1.
Ellen Tigh
Good way to frak with poor Saul's head some more, but I'm not sure it would offer anything else, and like with Baltar I prefer my total frakup characters to be human.
Also, Baltar alone knows from way back in her introductory episode whether or not Ellen passed the Cylon detector test. As messed up as he is, you would think he would have brought it up at SOME point (or at least had her quietly eliminated), especially during his presidency when she could ruin everything for him (and the rest of humanity but especially him) with a single signal back to Cylon HQ. Then again, maybe he forgot, or just didn't care anymore.
Odds: 15 to 1.
the Priestess Eloisha
I wouldn't even be considering this possibility, but they dug up her actress for Roslin's dreams in episode 4.09, and suddenly she's important again. Cylons do love their spirituality, and she accomplishes the same thing Billy does in respect to Roslin: someone she trusts, right by her side from the start. She was also the first death of someone who'd gotten more than an episode of attention, and she died on Kobol, so it would be a nice full circle type of thing to find she'd beaten everyone to Earth. She'd even be rather messianic about the whole thing. The more I think about it, the more likely she is.
Odds: 3 to 1.
Duck or Jammer
Instead of Eloisha, here's our dark horses. For those who don't remember them, Duck was the guy who blew up the police graduation on New Caprica, while Jammer was the secret police member who got airlocked for collaboration after they got off the planet. They both got a prominent role in the webisode series between seasons 2 and 3; Duck didn't last much beyond that, Jammer did but I'm not sure Three would have found out he died. Highly unlikely for either of them anyway, mostly because I can't imagine the viewers or writers much CARE about them, but not impossible.
Odds: 40 to 1 for each.
I realize that in the end, logic can't apply perfectly to this. Tigh aged over at least 20 years; the other three we know either didn't, started as kids, or were "deployed" considerably later. No logical reason applies to any of those possibilities. Really, we still don't know enough about when they were created or how/when they got banished/forgotten. Or when/if they reached Earth. So maybe we can't rule out possibilities as smoothly as I think we can. But hey, it's fun! So to review, in order of my personal suspicions:
Eloisha
Roslin
Billy
Adama
Helo
Ellen
Baltar
Duck
Jammer
To be concluded in 2009...